What data do we need to collect to allow for practical measurement, evaluation and assessment of biodiversity to understand species status, habitat condition and ecosystem health to underpin improvements?
Background
Question Group: Focused on safeguarding and enhancing Scotland’s natural resources, its air, soils, land, water, plants and wildlife, by addressing the drivers of nature loss and environmental degradation. Emphasises restoration of degraded ecosystems, sustainable use of wild species, minimising of pollution, improving the management of invasive non-native species. Targets sustainable use of resources to support thriving communities, nature, and the economy in a changing climate.
Sub-questions: -What constitutes a sensible package of biodiversity data, analysis, platforms, metrics etc. that works across relevant policy areas at regional, catchment and field scales?
-Which nationally applicable environmental datasets to help inform, design, track and evaluate all of our land use, climate and biodiversity / nature policies are needed?
- How do we measure the health and resilience of Scotland's ecosystems inside and outside of protected areas?
- Can we produce national scale models of biodiversity to aid decision support?
- How can we better spatially prioritise nature restoration?
-What is the role of new technologies in cost effectively providing and analysing key gaps in biodiversity and wider ecosystem assessment (e.g. drones, bioacoustics, earth observation satellites, eDNA, AI, non-targeted chemical screening, LiDAR)? and How can we make use of these data in conjunction to make a better assessment of ecosystem health in Scotland?
-What is the importance of species assemblages over individual species?
-How do we account for the health of novel ecosystems (including urban and peri-urban ecosystems and agricultural ecosystems)?
-How do we assess the importance of the transition (edginess) between habitats and ecosystems?
-How should we understand species and habitat associations (what's there because all alternatives have been removed vs what 'should' be there)?
- How can we better assess and evaluate citizens and societies understanding of, contribution to and benefiting from nature to address the indirect drivers of biodiversity decline?
Next steps
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Source
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Environment natural resources agriculture research strategy 2027 2032
Topics
Research fields
Related UKRI funded projects
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Desperately Seeking Space for Nature: a spatial analysis of biodiversity in changing landscape
In face of changing natural environment it is important to understand the impact of human activities on the environment and, in turn, the impact of changing environment on human well-being. Biodiversity - the diversity o...
Funded by: NERC
Lead research organisation: University of East Anglia
Why might this be relevant?
The project focuses on biodiversity data analysis and modeling to understand the impact of human activities on the environment and species abundance.
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Delivering multiple ecosystem service benefits in real landscapes
Ecosystems and their biodiversity deliver products such as food, fibre and fuel, as well as a range of essential services such as climate regulation, water and soil regulation and cultural and recreational services, whic...
Funded by: NERC
Lead research organisation: University of York
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it focuses on ecosystem services and biodiversity relationships, but does not directly address all aspects of biodiversity data collection and assessment.
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Knowledge Exchange Fellowship: Bringing the data revolution to nature recovery
The recent rise in awareness of environmental issues has prompted a strong policy response from governments across the world. The UK and Devolved Governments' responses to this crisis include ambitious policies such as t...
Funded by: NERC
Lead research organisation: Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Why might this be relevant?
Partially relevant as it addresses biodiversity monitoring and analysis, but does not cover all aspects of biodiversity data collection and assessment.